Method and system for providing real-time communications services

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method and a system for providing at least one communications service to one or more service providers by a communications service provider. Communications capabilities of the communications service provider are sliced into a plurality of virtual slices and each of the plurality of virtual slices is configured for a different service provider from among the one or more service providers. At least one communications service is provided to each of the one or more service providers through a respective configured virtual slice by the communications service provider. Each of the one or more service providers further provides the communications service to a user through the respective configured virtual slice in collaboration with the communications service provider.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/071,668, filed Mar. 25, 2011, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to providing real-time communicationsservice to a user by a service provider. In particular, the inventionrelates to a method and system for providing real-time communicationsservice to a user by a service provider in collaboration with acommunications service provider.

Service providers, as the name suggests, provide various services totheir subscribers. Examples of service providers include, but are notlimited to, a healthcare provider, a financial services provider, aninternet service provider and so forth. Typically, a user has tosubscribe to a service provider to avail the services offered by theservice provider. Once the user registers himself with the serviceprovider, the user can avail the services of the service provider. Overthe years, service providers have been trying to provide more and morevalue-added services to their subscribers.

An example of a service that a healthcare service provider may want toprovide to its users is a remote healthcare service. Such a service mayenable the user to avail healthcare services remotely while sitting athome. In the current scenario, the healthcare provider can provide sucha service to its users as long as the healthcare provider has broadbandconnectivity and its users have the same. However, such an arrangementwill have at least the following limitation: to provide such a service,the healthcare provider will have to incur capital and operationalexpenses. The capital expense would come from the bank of high-endapplication servers, video servers, and expensive networking equipment.The operational expense would come from high-bandwidth leased lines,running a full-fledged IT service to maintain the networkinginfrastructure and the servers, keeping them operational 24X7, andemploying highly skilled personnel who would be responsible formaintaining and managing sophisticated multimedia communications systemfor setting up multiparty connections between the desired parties.

It can be seen that having such an arrangement does not make economicsense for the healthcare provider to incur all these expenses associatedwith managing a complex communications infrastructure since managingcommunications infrastructure is not its competency.

On the other hand, managing communications infrastructure is the corecompetency of a communications service provider. As is known, acommunications service provider provides telecommunication services toits subscribers. Recently, communications service providers have startedvideo and mobile services, in addition to voice and data services. Thesubscribers of such a communications service provider could be both:other service providers, such as the service providers mentionedearlier, and end users. In order to stay competitive and realize thefull potential of the communications infrastructure, the communicationsservice providers need to provide value-added services to their users,especially other service providers. These other service providers, inturn, should be able to utilize these value-added services in offeringnovel services to their users.

Thus, there is a need for a method and a system that will enable thecommunications service provider to provide various value-added servicesto service providers. Further, the method and system should also enablethe service providers to provide novel services to their users withoutincurring any additional capital and operational expenses.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for providing at least onecommunications service to one or more service providers by acommunications service provider. The method includes slicingcommunications capabilities of the communications service provider intoa plurality of virtual slices. The communications capabilities comprisea set of predefined core services in addition to communicationsinfrastructure. The method further includes configuring each of theplurality of virtual slices for a different service provider from amongthe one or more service providers. Configuring each of the plurality ofvirtual slices comprises customizing the communications capabilities foreach of the plurality of virtual slices based on a rule-set provided bythe one or more service providers. Finally, the method includesproviding at least one communications service to each of the one or moreservice providers through a respective configured virtual slice by thecommunications service provider. Each of the one or more serviceproviders is capable of providing the communications service to a userthrough the respective configured virtual slice.

The present invention relates to a system for providing at least onecommunications service to one or more service providers by acommunications service provider. The system includes a platformconfigured to provide a communications service provider with the abilityto slice communications capabilities of the communications serviceprovider into a plurality of virtual slices. The communicationscapabilities comprise a set of predefined core services in addition tocommunications infrastructure. The platform is further configured toconfigure each of the plurality of virtual slices for a differentservice provider from among the one or more service providers.Configuring each of the plurality of virtual slices comprisescustomizing the communications capabilities for each of the plurality ofvirtual slices based on a rule-set provided by the one or more serviceproviders. Additionally, the platform is configured to provide at leastone communications service to each of the one or more service providersthrough a respective configured virtual slice by the communicationsservice provider. Each of the one or more service providers is capableof providing the communications service to a user through the respectiveconfigured virtual slice.

The present invention relates to a method for providing a communicationsservice to at least one user over a communication channel by a serviceprovider, wherein the service provider is allocated a virtual slice ofcommunication capabilities by a communications service provider forproviding the communications service. The method includes receiving arequest for the communications service from the user through acommunication device, wherein the request is received by the serviceprovider offering the service the user having access to thecommunication device. The method further includes authenticating theuser based on a set of user credentials provided by the user at the timeof creating the request. The method also includes transmitting, to thecommunications service provider, a list of one or more agents capable ofproviding the communications service along with the request, the listbeing formed based on a first set of predefined factors. Further, themethod includes analyzing the request in accordance with a rule-set toidentify one of the one or more agents, wherein the one of the one ormore agents are identified by the communications service provider basedon a second set of predefined factors. Additionally, the method includesestablishing a connection between the identified agent and at least onecommunication device of the user through which the user accesses thecommunications service over the communication channel.

The present invention relates to a system for providing a communicationsservice to at least one user over a communication channel. The systemincludes a first platform configured to provide at least one serviceprovider with the ability to receive a request for a communicationsservice offered by the service provider, the request received from auser through a communication device over the communication channel. Thefirst platform is further configured to authenticate the user based on aset of user credentials provided by the user at the time of creating therequest. Additionally, the first platform is configured to transmit, toa communications service provider, a list of one or more agents capableof providing the communications service along with the request, the listformed based on a first set of predefined factors. The system alsoincludes a second platform configured to provide a communicationsservice provider with the ability to analyze the request in accordancewith a rule-set to identify one of the one or more agents, wherein theone of the one or more agents are identified based on a second set ofpredefined factors. The second platform is also configured to establisha connection between the identified agent and the communication deviceof the user through which the user accesses the communications serviceover the communication channel.

The present invention relates to a system for providing a communicationsservice to a user over a communication channel. The system includes aplurality of interfaces configured to interface with at least a serviceprovider, a communications service provider, and at least onecommunication device. The system further includes a reception moduleconfigured to receive a request for a communications service from theservice provider, wherein the request received by the service providerfrom the user. The reception module is also configured to receive a listof one or more agents capable of solving the request, the list formed bythe service provider based on a first set of predefined factors. Thesystem further includes an analysis engine configured to analyze therequest in accordance with a rule-set to identify one of the one or moreagents, wherein the one of the one or more agents is identified based ona second set of predefined factors. Finally, the system includes acommunication module configured to provision communication resources forestablishing a connection between the identified agent and the userbased on the analysis, wherein the communications service providersubsequently establishes the connection between the identified agent andat least one communication device over the communication channel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will be better understood when the following detaileddescription is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in whichlike characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an environment 100 in which the present invention can bepracticed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting allocation of virtual slices tomultiple service providers by a communications service provider 104 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows an environment 200 in which the present invention can bepracticed in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting various modules of a system 400 forproviding a communications service to a user in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram depicting the flow of events between varioussystem elements in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart depicting a method for providing a communicationsservice to one or more service providers by a communications serviceprovider, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart depicting a method for providing a communicationsservice to a user by a service provider, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart depicting a method for providing a communicationsservice to a user by a service provider, in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a generalized example of a computing environment 900.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is the full and informative description of thebest method and system presently contemplated for carrying out thepresent invention which is known to the inventors at the time of filingthe patent application. Of course, many modifications and adaptationswill be apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of thefollowing description in view of the accompanying drawings and theappended claims. While the system and method described herein areprovided with a certain degree of specificity, the present technique maybe implemented with either greater or lesser specificity, depending onthe needs of the user. Further, some of the features of the presenttechnique may be used to get an advantage without the corresponding useof other features described in the following paragraphs. As such, thepresent description should be considered as merely illustrative of theprinciples of the present technique and not in limitation thereof, sincethe present technique is defined solely by the claims.

The present invention, in its entirety, discloses a multimedia multimodecommunications platform that is deployed at a communications serviceprovider's end. The communications platform interfaces with one or moreservice providers as also with multiple user devices registered with theone or more service providers and the communications service provider.The communications platform enables the communications service providerto provide communications services to one or more service providers.Further, the communications platform enables the one or more serviceproviders to provide various communications services to multiple usersusing communications capabilities of the communications serviceprovider. As used in the context of this disclosure, a communicationsservice refers to a service that is managed by the one or more serviceproviders in conjunction with the communications service provider.Various embodiments of the present invention have been described belowin conjunction with figures.

FIG. 1 shows an environment 100 in which the present invention can bepracticed, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.Environment 100 includes service providers 102 a-102 n, a communicationsservice provider network 104, and a user 106.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention,communications capabilities of communications service provider network104 are distributed among service providers 102 a-102 n in the form ofvirtual slices. Each of the service providers 102 a-102 n then providesa communications service to user 106 through the virtual slicesallocated to it. That is, service providers 102 a-102 n utilize thecommunication capabilities of communications service provider network104 and provide the communications service to user 106. Details on thecommunications capabilities of communications service provider network104 have been described in conjunction with FIG. 2.

Service providers 102 a-102 n provide different services to user 106.Examples of services that service providers 102 a-102 n may provideinclude, but are not limited to, healthcare, banking, hospitality, andconsulting. It should be noted that each service provider from amongservice providers 102 a-102 n may provide a different service to user106. The method of providing different services to user 106 by serviceproviders 102 a-102 n has been described in detail in conjunction withFIG. 4 and FIG. 5. As used herein, a communications service refers to aservice that is managed by service provider 102 in conjunction withcommunications service provider 104.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention,communications service provider network 104 may be any type ofcommunication network that is capable of transmitting information, suchas voice, data, short messaging (SMS), multimedia messaging (MMS),facsimiles, and any other type of information that may be transmitted inaccordance with methods of this invention including a PSTN, a GSMnetwork, TDMA, UMTS, GPRS, and any other known or later developednetwork. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, thecommunications service provider (not shown in the figure) controllingcommunications service provider network 104 is a telecom operator.However, the communications service provider may also include cablecompanies, satellite TV providers, internet service providers, and soforth.

User 106 is registered with both service provider 102 and communicationsservice provider network 104. User 106 has at least one communicationdevice (not shown in the figure) through which user 106 accesses thecommunications service provided by service provider 102. Thecommunication device may include a mobile phone, a laptop, a desktopcomputer, a multimedia messaging device (MMS), a short messaging device(SMS), and/or any other type of commercially available communicationdevice capable of communicating through the communications serviceprovider network 104.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting allocation of virtual slices ofcommunications service provider network 104 to multiple serviceproviders 102 a-102 n in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 2 includes multiple service providers 102 a-102 n, acommunications service provider network 104 and a user 106. As shown inthe figure, communications capabilities associated with communicationsservice provider network 104 are divided into multiple individual slices204, 206 and 208.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, thecommunication capabilities of communications service provider network104 enable provision of one or more communications services to each ofservice providers 102 a-102 n. The communications capabilities ofcommunications service provider network 104 include various predefinedcore services along with communications infrastructure. The predefinedcore services include, but are not limited to, location-based service,presence-based service, subscriber authentication service, multimediaservice, instant messaging service, notification service, interactivevoice service, conferencing service, and media streaming service.

Through the virtual slices allocated to service providers 102 a-102 n bythe communications service provider, each service provider provides oneor more communications service to user 106. In other words, thecommunications service is jointly managed by a service provider, fromamong service providers 102 a-102 n, and the communications serviceprovider and provided to user 106. As depicted in the figure, all thevirtual slices are non-overlapping.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, each ofservice providers 102 a-102 n provides a rule-set to the communicationsservice provider (not shown in the figure) controlling communicationsservice provider network 104. The rule-set defines, among other things,a service flow for each of the communications services being providedthrough communications service provider network 104 to each serviceprovider. The communications service may be of two types: basic serviceand composite service. A basic service refers to a service that isdelivered by invoking only one or two predefined core services and doesnot involve evaluation of any complex rules. A composite service, on theother hand, refers to a service that is delivered by invoking more thantwo predefined core services. Additionally, the composite serviceusually involves complex rule sets to be evaluated. Thus, the rule-setincludes a service flow for each communications service along with anyother rules specific to each service provider.

Thus, the communications capabilities of communications service providernetwork 104 are virtually sliced and each virtual slice, such as virtualslices 204, 206 and 208, is allocated to an individual service providerfrom among the service providers 102 a-102 n. Prior to allocating thevirtual slices to a service provider, however, the communicationsservice provider configures each virtual slice based on the rule-setprovided by the service providers 102 a-102 n. It should be noted thatconfiguring each virtual slice includes customizing the communicationscapabilities of each of the virtual slices based on the rule-setprovided by the service providers 102 a-102 n. Further, configuring thevirtual slice also includes provisioning a set of network resources bythe communications service provider. In accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention, the network resources include, butare not limited to, bandwidth and access/traffic channels. Through theindividual virtual slices of communications service provider network104, one or more communications service is provided to service providers102 a-102 n. Each of the service providers 102 a-102 n further providesthe communications service to one or more users. The method forproviding the communications service to the one or more users by theservice providers 102 a-102 n is described in conjunction with FIG. 4 toFIG. 7.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, apredefined billing model is established among the service provider, thecommunications service provider and the user. As per the billing model,the communications service provider bills the service provider based onusage of the communications capabilities of a respective virtual sliceby the service provider. Further, the service provider bills the userbased on the usage of the communications service by the user. Similarly,an assurance model is also established between the service provider andthe communications service provider that enables equitable sharing ofrisks associated with delivering the communications service between theservice provider and the communications service provider. Furthermore, arevenue model is also established for distributing revenues between theservice provider and the communications service provider in proportionto value delivered by the respective configured virtual slice to itsrespective service provider.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, thecommunications service provider provides the one or more communicationsservice to each of the service providers 102 a-102 n in accordance witha predefined service level agreement (SLA) between the involved parties.As is known in the art, an SLA is a service contract where the level ofservice is formally defined between the involved parties. Typically, theSLA specifies various parameters such as levels of availability,serviceability, performance, operation, or any other attributes of theservice (for example, billing, assurance etc.). In accordance with anembodiment of the present invention, the SLA may be any of a dynamic SLAand a static SLA. A dynamic SLA refers to an SLA that is negotiatedevery time prior to providing the service. In other words, certainaspects of the SLA may need to be negotiated every time before thecommunications service provider provides the communications service toeach of the service providers 102 a-102 n. On the other hand, a staticSLA does not involve negotiation every time the service is provided. Itis also possible that the SLA contains both a static SLA section and adynamic SLA section.

FIG. 3 shows an environment 300 in which the present invention can bepracticed in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention. Environment 300 includes multiple service providers 102 a-102n, an intermediate entity 302, a communications service provider network104 and a user 106. Service providers 102 a-102 n provide variouscommunications services to user 106 who accesses a communications device(not shown in the figure) available at intermediate entity 302. Thecommunications services are provided to user 106 through communicationsservice provider network 104.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, intermediateentity 302 is a multi-service kiosk controlled by a kiosk serviceprovider (not shown in the figure). The kiosk may have a communicationdevice, such as a personal computer, that may be accessed by varioususers, such as user 106. That is, the kiosk service provider (KSP)leverages communications capabilities of communications service providernetwork 104 and makes the communications service available to multipleservice providers 102 a-102 n. The multiple service providers 102 a-102n, in turn, provide the communications service to various users, such asuser 106.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, user 106, whois registered with service provider 102 a, for example, visitsintermediate entity 302 and provides personal information forauthentication purposes. Intermediate entity 302 transmits the personalinformation of user 106 to service provider 102 a. Service provider 102a authenticates user 106 based on the personal information and providesa communications service requested by user 106 through communicationsservice provider network 104. User 106 accesses the communicationsservice at the communications device present at intermediate entity 302.For example, service provider 102 a may arrange for a live videoconference to be set up between user 106 and a business expert (notshown in the figure) through the communications device present atintermediate entity 302. It should be noted that more than two partiesmay also be involved in the video call. Thus, intermediate entity 302provides access to various communications services delivered throughcommunications service provider network 104. The communications servicesinclude, but are not limited to, broadband, video calls, and streamingvideo.

Provision of the communications service to user 106 may also involvefactors such as language translation and subsequent text-to-speechconversion. The language translation and text-to-speech conversion areperformed by the communications service provider controllingcommunications service provider network 104 using techniques known inthe art. In addition, the communications service provider is alsocapable of handling providing quality of service on the video call,trans-coding video content to suit capability of the communicationsdevice and connection at intermediate entity 302, setting up a securemulti-party multi-media conference call on demand. Details of thecapabilities of the communications service provider have been explainedin conjunction with FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting various modules of a system 400 forproviding a communications service to a user in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. System 400 includes a user device402, a communication platform 404, and a service provider platform 406.User device 402 includes a service provider application 408 and a clientframework 410. Communication platform 404 includes a reception module412, a service-specific SLA 414, a rule-set 416, an analysis module 418,core services 420 and a communications module 422. Service providerplatform 406 includes a user authentication module 424, an agent list426, user details 428, and a control module 430.

User device 402 creates a request through service provider application408 for accessing a communications service provided by a serviceprovider (not shown in the figure) controlling service provider platform406. User device 402 sends the request to service provider platform 406.User authentication module 424 receives the request and authenticatesthe user based on details provided by the user at the time of creatingthe request. Based on the authentication results, control module 430analyzes the request to check the type of communications service desiredby the user. Control module 430 then accesses agent list 426 and userdetails 428 to identify a list of agents capable of providing thecommunications service to the user based on a set of predefined factors.Control module 430 further transmits the list of agents and the requestto communication platform 404. Reception module 412 receives the requestalong with the list of agents and forwards it to analysis module 418.Analysis module 418 accesses service-specific SLA 414 and rule-set 416and then selects an agent from among the list of agents capable ofproviding the communications service to the user. Communications module422 establishes a connection between the user and the selected agent byprovisioning a set of network resources.

User device 402 includes a service provider application 408 and a clientframework 410. In accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention, service provider application 408 is an application specificto the service provider that allows the user to connect or log on to theservice provider channel. Client framework 410 enables operation ofservice provider application 408 on user device 402. Thus, for example,in case user device 402 is a laptop, service provider application 408may be a service provider's website and client framework 410 may be abrowser that enables the user to log on to and access the serviceprovider's website. In accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention, client framework 410 is provided by the communicationsservice provider to enable operation of service provider application408, provided by the service provider. User device 402 may be any of amobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a television, a desktopcomputer and a laptop.

Service provider platform 406 receives the request sent by the userthrough user device 402. User authentication module 424 compares thedetails entered by the user at the time of creating the request with thecorresponding details of the user stored in user details 428. Inaccordance with various embodiments of the present invention, thedetails provided by the user may include any unique login details of theuser such as name of the user, a registration number of the userprovided by the service provider and/or the communications serviceprovider, a password and so forth. User authentication module 424authenticates the user based on the comparison and passes theauthentication results to control module 430. In accordance with anembodiment of the present invention, user authentication module 424 is adatabase. In case the authentication fails, an error message isdisplayed to the user on user device 402.

Based on the authentication results, control module 430 analyzes thereceived request and forms a list of agents capable of providing thecommunications service to the user based on predefined factors thatinclude, but are not limited to, user profile, user subscriptiondetails, communications service requested and qualifications of the oneor more agents. Each of these predefined factors will now be describedin further detail. It should be noted that, in an embodiment, thefunctionality of control module 430 may be performed by userauthentication module 424 itself.

The user profile refers to personal details of the user provided by theuser at the time of registration that are stored with the serviceprovider. However, the user profile also provides information on currentdevice capabilities of the user. For example, the user profile mayprovide information on details such as memory of user device 402,audio-video capabilities of user device 402, and so forth. The userprofile further includes preferences of the user with respect to thecommunications device on which the user wishes to access thecommunications service. In other words, though the user creates therequest through user device 402, the user may wish to access thecommunications service on a different device. For example, the user maycreate the request through a mobile device but may want to have a videochat with an agent through a television. The user profile is identifiedby analysis module 418 before setting up a connection between the userand a selected agent, as will be explained in the subsequent paragraphs.

The user subscription details refer to the level of subscription of theuser. In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention,the level of subscription may be of two types: communication-basedsubscription level and service-based subscription level. Through thecommunication-based subscription level, the user selects the mode ofcommunication over a combination of user devices. That is, the user maychoose to subscribe to a number of devices, such as television, mobilephone and a personal computer. Further, the user may also choose themode of communication for the subscribed devices such as text, audio andvideo communication. In accordance with an embodiment, the service-basedsubscription level is specific to the type of services provided by theservice provider. For example, if the service provider is a healthcareprovider, the user may subscribe to any or all of consultative services,advisory services and so forth.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention,subscription of the user may be of various types that define the type ofservice that can be made available to the user. For example, a user mayhave subscribed to bronze-level service which makes available only voicecalls. Another user may have subscribed to gold-level service whichmakes the user eligible for multimedia calls. Still another user mayhave subscribed to platinum-level service which ensures that the user isentitled to guaranteed service within a specific duration of time. Suchlevels of subscription may be defined by the service provider when theuser wants to register for the services offered by the service provider.

The list of agents selected also depends on the type of communicationsservice requested by the user. For example, the user may demandconsultation with an expert in real-time before deciding whether theuser should invest in a particular stock option. Hence, a human agent isselected in such a case. In another case, the user may want generalinformation about stock options available to him. Thus, in this case, amedia server having a video file containing the general information onstock options may be selected. Additionally, the qualifications of theagents are also considered before forming the agent list. In otherwords, factors such as experience of the agent, background of the agent,and so forth may be considered to arrive at an individual score for eachagent and based on the individual scores, the list of agents may beformed. It should be noted that the qualifications of the agents areprovided to the service provider by the agents at the time ofregistration. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention,control module 430 keeps updating the individual scores of the agents atregular intervals based on a feedback provided by the user.

Thus, control module 430 forms the list of agents capable of providingthe desired communications service and sends the list to receptionmodule 412. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention,control module 430 prioritizes the list of agents based on a predefinedfactor, such as, for example, the individual scores before handing overthe list to reception module 412. Further, control module also sends therequest to reception module 412.

Reception module 412 receives the list of agents along with the requestand forwards the list and the request to analysis module 418. Inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention, reception module412 performs another level of authentication before passing on therequest to analysis module 418. This authentication may be performedbased on the user details available with the communications serviceprovider. In case the authentication fails, reception module 412 doesnot forward the information to analysis module 418. Instead, an errormessage may be displayed to the user on user device 402.

Analysis module receives the list of agents and the request fromreception module 412. Analysis module 418 then accesses service-specificSLA 414 and a rule-set 416. Features of service-specific SLA 414 andrule-set 416 have been described in detail in conjunction with FIG. 2and hence, will not be described here. Analysis module 418 analyzes therequest and based on the user subscription details, dynamically selectsa set of communications services available to the user. That is,analysis module 418 checks whether the user has actually registered tothe communications service that the user desires to access. Analysismodule 418 also dynamically selects content accessible to the user basedon at least one of the user profile and the user subscription details.In other words, analysis module 418 checks whether the content desiredto be accessed by the user can be provided to the user on the user'scommunications device by analyzing the user profile. For example, if thecommunications device registered by the user for accessing the servicedoes not have video capabilities and the user requests to have a videocall with an agent, analysis module 418 notifies the user accordingly.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention,analysis module 418 also determines quality of service (QoS)requirements for the communications service dynamically. Analysis module418 dynamically maps the communications service with the QoSrequirements as specified in service-specific SLA 414. It should benoted that service-specific SLA 414 may have a dynamic SLA component, asdescribed earlier in conjunction with FIG. 2.

Analysis module 418 then selects an agent from among the list of agentshanded over by reception module 412. In accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention, analysis module 418 selects theagent based on at least one of network connectivity of the one or moreagents, current location of the one or more agents, availability of theone or more agents, device capabilities of communication devicesregistered by the one or more agents, type of the communications servicerequested, urgency of the communications service requested, and overallaccessibility scores of the one or more agents. The overallaccessibility scores of the agents may be calculated by taking intoaccount the network connectivity of the agents, their current location,and other such parameters. Thus, analysis module 418 selects the agentmost suitable for providing the communications service to the user. Forexample, if the user is subscribed to premium service and is connectedto an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), analysis module 418 mayselect an agent who is also connected to broadband IPTV. It should benoted that urgency of the communications service requested is alsospecified by the user at the time of creating the request.

Based on the communications service requested by the user, analysismodule 418 invokes corresponding core services 420 and passes on thedetails of the selected agent to communication module 422. Core services420 include the predefined core services, explained earlier inconjunction with FIG. 2. In accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention, analysis module 418 also identifies location of the agentsand the location of the user requesting the communications servicebefore selecting the agent. It will be appreciated that analysis module418 performs its various functions with the help of core services 420and by adding intelligence to the predefined core services.

Communication module 422 receives the agent details and the user detailsfrom analysis module 418. Communications module 422 provisions necessarynetwork resources for establishing a connection between a communicationsdevice of the selected agent and the communications device of the user.In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention,communications module 422 establishes the connection through invocationof one or more core services from among core services 420 by analysismodule 418. Further, depending on the type of communications device ofthe user, communication module 422 provisions the communications device.Thus, for example, if the communications device is a television,communications module 422 may provision a set-top box associated withthe television before establishing the connection. However, in case thecommunications device of the user is a mobile phone, provisioning of themobile phone may not be necessary.

Communication module 422 notifies the selected agent about the requestand sends the details of the user to the selected agent on acommunications device registered by the user. Communications module 422further establishes a connection between the communications device ofthe user and a suitable communications device of the selected agent. Itshould be noted that the user may create a request through onecommunications device but may access the communications service onanother communications device, based on the user's preferences and theuser profile. Similarly, the agent may be notified on one communicationsdevice but he may interact with the user through another communicationsdevice. As discussed earlier, the connection may be any of a video call,an audio call, and so forth.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, communicationplatform 404 includes multiple service templates (not shown in thefigure) that consist of various basic services that include, but are notlimited to, selecting an agent based on the rule-set provided by aservice provider, dynamically provisioning QoS and security in thenetwork and any necessary communication elements, dynamically setting upan end-to-end connection between user device 402 and the selected agent,notifying the selected agent about the impending request by the user,and sending user details to the selected agent. It will be apparent to aperson skilled in the art that using these service templates, anyservice may be quickly instantiated thereby improving the efficiency ofthe overall system. It will be understood that communication platform404 includes multiple interfaces for interfacing with user device 402and service provider end 406.

FIG. 5 shows separation of roles between a service provider and acommunications service provider, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 5 includes a service provider 502, acommunications service provider 504, a user 506, an agent 508, a userdevice 510 and an agent device 512.

At step 1, user 506 and agent 506 register with service provider 502. Itshould be noted that the registration process is a one-time process. Atstep 2, user 506 requests for a communications service offered byservice provider 502 through a user device 512 registered by user 506with service provider 502 at the time of registration. Service provider502 receives the request and at step 3, authenticates user 506 based ondetails entered by user 506 at the time of creating the request. Serviceprovider 502 compares the details entered by the user at the time ofcreating the request with the registration details to authenticate user506. Further, service provider checks subscription details of user 506and generates a list of agents, such as agent 508, capable of providingthe communications service to user 506. Service provider 502 thenprovides the request details, user subscription details, and the list ofagents to communications service provider 504.

Communications service provider 504 receives the information fromservice provider 502 and based on a set of rules provided by serviceprovider 502 earlier, selects an agent, for example, agent 508 fromamong the list of agents. Communications service provider 504 furtherchecks the user profile of user 506 and the availability of agent 508 ona registered communications device, such as agent device 510.Communications service provider 504 then notifies agent 508 about therequest and passes the request details to agent 508. Further,communications service provider 504 provisions a set of networkresources and user device 512, if needed, and subsequently establishes aconnection between user 506 and agent 508 so that user 506 and agent 508may interact through a communications session. The communicationssession may be any of a video call, an audio call, and so forth.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting a method for providing a communicationsservice to one or more service providers by a communications serviceprovider, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

At step 602, communication capabilities of a communications serviceprovider are divided into multiple non-overlapping virtual slices. Inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention, thecommunication capabilities of the communications service providerinclude various predefined core services along with communicationsinfrastructure. The predefined core services include, but are notlimited to, location-based service, presence-based service, subscriberauthentication service, multimedia service, instant messaging service,notification service, interactive voice service, conferencing service,and media streaming service.

At step 604, each of the plurality of virtual slices is configured for adifferent service provider. In accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention, configuring each virtual slice includes customizingthe communications capabilities of each of the virtual slices based onthe rule-set provided by the service providers. Further, configuring thevirtual slice also includes provisioning a set of network resources bythe communications service provider. In accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention, the network resources include, butare not limited to, bandwidth and access/traffic channels.

At step 606, through the virtual slices, one or more communicationsservice is provided to the service providers by the communicationsservice provider. Each of the service providers then provides thecommunications service to one or more users through the virtual slices,that is, using the communications capabilities of the communicationsservice provider.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart depicting a method for providing a communicationsservice to a user by a service provider, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

At step 702, a request for a communications service is received by aservice provider. In accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention, the request is created by a user through a communicationsdevice registered by the user with the service provider. Thecommunications device may be any of a mobile phone, a personal digitalassistant, a television, a desktop computer and a laptop.

At step 704, the service provider authenticates the user based ondetails entered by the user at the time of creating the request. Theservice provider may compare the details entered by the user withregistration details of the user stored with the service provider toauthenticate the user. Further, the service provider analyzes therequest to determine the type of communications service is desired bythe user. The service provider then identifies a list of agents capableof providing the communications service to the user based on a set ofpredefined factors. In accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention, the predefined factors include, but are not limited to, userprofile, user subscription details, communications service requested andqualifications of the one or more agents.

At step 706, the service provider transmits the list of one or moreagents capable of providing the communications service to acommunications service provider. In accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention, the service provider prioritizes the list of one ormore agents before sending the list to the communications serviceprovider.

At step 708, the communications service provider analyzes the requestand based at least on user subscription details, a predefined SLA and arule-set, dynamically selects a set of communications services availableto the user. Further, communications service provider also dynamicallyselects content accessible to the user based on at least one of the userprofile and the user subscription details. Additionally, thecommunications service provider also selects an agent from among thelist of one or more agents based on at least one of network connectivityof the one or more agents, current location of the one or more agents,availability of the one or more agents, device capabilities ofcommunication devices registered by the one or more agents, type of thecommunications service requested, urgency of the communications servicerequested, and overall accessibility scores of the one or more agents.

At step 710, the communications service provider provisions networkresources necessary to establish a connection between a communicationsdevice registered by the identified agent and a communication device ofthe user. The connection may be any of a video call, an audio call, andso forth. Subsequently, the communications service provider notifies theselected agent about the request and establishes a connection betweenthe selected agent and the user.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart depicting a method for providing a communicationsservice to a user by a service provider, in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

At step 802, a request for a communications service is received by acommunications service provider. In accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention, the request is created by a user through acommunications device registered by the user with the communicationsservice provider. The communications device may be any of a mobilephone, a personal digital assistant, a television, a desktop computerand a laptop.

At step 804, the communications service provider authenticates the userbased on details entered by the user at the time of creating therequest. The communications service provider may compare the detailsentered by the user with registration details of the user stored withthe communications service provider to authenticate the user.

At step 806, the communications service provider sends theauthentication results to the service provider. In accordance withvarious embodiments of the present invention, the communications serviceprovider also passes the request created by the user to the serviceprovider.

At step 808, the service provider performs a second-level authenticationof the user based on the registration details available at the serviceprovider's end and analyzes the request to identify a list of agentscapable of providing the communications service to the user based on aset of predefined factors. In accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention, the predefined factors include, but are not limitedto, user profile, user subscription details, communications servicerequested and qualifications of the one or more agents.

At step 810, the communications service provider analyzes the requestand based at least on user subscription details, a predefined SLA and arule-set, dynamically selects a set of communications services availableto the user. Further, communications service provider also dynamicallyselects content accessible to the user based on at least one of the userprofile and the user subscription details. Additionally, thecommunications service provider also selects an agent from among thelist of one or more agents based on at least one of network connectivityof the one or more agents, current location of the one or more agents,availability of the one or more agents, device capabilities ofcommunication devices registered by the one or more agents, type of thecommunications service requested, urgency of the communications servicerequested, and overall accessibility scores of the one or more agents.

At step 812, the communications service provider provisions networkresources necessary to establish a connection between a communicationsdevice registered by the identified agent and a communication device ofthe user. Subsequently, the communications service provider notifies theselected agent about the request and establishes a connection betweenthe selected agent and the user. The connection may be any of a videocall, an audio call, and so forth.

Thus, the present invention discloses a multimedia multimodecommunications platform that is deployed at a communications serviceprovider's end. The communications platform interfaces with one or moreservice providers as also with multiple user devices registered with theone or more service providers and the communications service provider.The communications platform enables the communications service providerto provide communications services to one or more service providers.Further, the communications platform enables the one or more serviceproviders to provide various communications services to multiple usersusing communications capabilities of the communications serviceprovider.

Exemplary Computing Environment

One or more of the above-described techniques can be implemented in orinvolve one or more computer systems. FIG. 9 illustrates a generalizedexample of a computing environment 900. The computing environment 900 isnot intended to suggest any limitation as to scope of use orfunctionality of described embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 9, the computing environment 900 includes atleast one processing unit 910 and memory 920. In FIG. 9, this most basicconfiguration 930 is included within a dashed line. The processing unit910 executes computer-executable instructions and may be a real or avirtual processor. In a multi-processing system, multiple processingunits execute computer-executable instructions to increase processingpower. The memory 920 may be volatile memory (e.g., registers, cache,RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, etc.), orsome combination of the two. In some embodiments, the memory 920 storessoftware 980 implementing described techniques.

A computing environment may have additional features. For example, thecomputing environment 900 includes storage 940, one or more inputdevices 950, one or more output devices 960, and one or morecommunication connections 970. An interconnection mechanism (not shown)such as a bus, controller, or network interconnects the components ofthe computing environment 900. Typically, operating system software (notshown) provides an operating environment for other software executing inthe computing environment 900, and coordinates activities of thecomponents of the computing environment 900.

The storage 940 may be removable or non-removable, and includes magneticdisks, magnetic tapes or cassettes, CD-ROMs, CD-RWs, DVDs, or any othermedium which can be used to store information and which can be accessedwithin the computing environment 900. In some embodiments, the storage940 stores instructions for the software 980.

The input device(s) 950 may be a touch input device such as a keyboard,mouse, pen, trackball, touch screen, or game controller, a voice inputdevice, a scanning device, a digital camera, or another device thatprovides input to the computing environment 900. The output device(s)960 may be a display, printer, speaker, or another device that providesoutput from the computing environment 900.

The communication connection(s) 970 enable communication over acommunication medium to another computing entity. The communicationmedium conveys information such as computer-executable instructions,audio or video information, or other data in a modulated data signal. Amodulated data signal is a signal that has one or more of itscharacteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode informationin the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communicationmedia include wired or wireless techniques implemented with anelectrical, optical, RF, infrared, acoustic, or other carrier.

Implementations can be described in the general context ofcomputer-readable media. Computer-readable media are any available mediathat can be accessed within a computing environment. By way of example,and not limitation, within the computing environment 900,computer-readable media include memory 920, storage 940, communicationmedia, and combinations of any of the above.

Having described and illustrated the principles of our invention withreference to described embodiments, it will be recognized that thedescribed embodiments can be modified in arrangement and detail withoutdeparting from such principles. It should be understood that theprograms, processes, or methods described herein are not related orlimited to any particular type of computing environment, unlessindicated otherwise. Various types of general purpose or specializedcomputing environments may be used with or perform operations inaccordance with the teachings described herein. Elements of thedescribed embodiments shown in software may be implemented in hardwareand vice versa.

As will be appreciated by those ordinary skilled in the art, theforegoing example, demonstrations, and method steps may be implementedby suitable code on a processor base system, such as general purpose orspecial purpose computer. It should also be noted that differentimplementations of the present technique may perform some or all thesteps described herein in different orders or substantiallyconcurrently, that is, in parallel. Furthermore, the functions may beimplemented in a variety of programming languages. Such code, as will beappreciated by those of ordinary skilled in the art, may be stored oradapted for storage in one or more tangible machine readable media, suchas on memory chips, local or remote hard disks, optical disks or othermedia, which may be accessed by a processor based system to execute thestored code. Note that the tangible media may comprise paper or anothersuitable medium upon which the instructions are printed. For instance,the instructions may be electronically captured via optical scanning ofthe paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwiseprocessed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in acomputer memory.

The following description is presented to enable a person of ordinaryskill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in thecontext of the requirement for a obtaining a patent. The presentdescription is the best presently-contemplated method for carrying outthe present invention. Various modifications to the preferred embodimentwill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the genericprinciples of the present invention may be applied to other embodiments,and some features of the present invention may be used without thecorresponding use of other features. Accordingly, the present inventionis not intended to be limited to the embodiment shown but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and featuresdescribed herein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for providing a communicationsservice, the method comprising: configuring one or more computerprocessors for: partitioning a communications service provider networkinto a plurality of non-overlapping virtual slices, each virtual slicecomprising: communications infrastructure including at least a definedcommunication bandwidth, and at least two predefined network servicesthat are distinct from the communications infrastructure; receiving arequest for the communications service from the user through the atleast one communication device, wherein the request is received by theservice provider offering the service; authenticating the user based ona set of user credentials provided by the user at the time of creatingthe request; forming a list of one or more agents capable of providingthe communications service to the user along with the request, the listbeing formed based on a first set of predefined factors, wherein thefirst set of predefined factors comprises qualifications and experiencesof the one or more agents; calculating accessibility scores of the oneor more agents based on network connectivity of the one or more agents,current location of the one or more agents, and availability of the oneor more agents; transmitting the list from the service provider to thecommunications service provider; accessing the list and analyzing therequest in accordance with a rule-set to identify one of the one or moreagents, the one of the one or more agents being identified by thecommunications service provider based on a second set of predefinedfactors, wherein the second set of predefined factors comprisesaccessibility scores of the one or more agents; and establishing aconnection between the identified agent and at least one communicationdevice of the user through which the user accesses the communicationsservice over the communication channel via the allocated one or morevirtual slices.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the firstset of predefined factors further comprises at least one of userprofile, user subscription details, and communications servicerequested.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step ofanalyzing the request is preceded by the step of prioritizing the listof one or more agents by the service provider.
 4. The method as recitedin claim 2, wherein the step of analyzing the request comprises the stepof dynamically selecting a set of communications services available tothe user based on the user subscription details.
 5. The method asrecited in claim 2, wherein the step of analyzing the request comprisesthe step of dynamically selecting content accessible to the user basedon at least one of the user profile and the user subscription details.6. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the step of analyzing therequest comprises the step of dynamically determining quality of servicerequirements for the communications service.
 7. The method as recited inclaim 6, wherein the step of dynamically determining quality of servicerequirements comprises the step of dynamically mapping thecommunications service with predefined quality of service requirements.8. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the step of establishingthe connection between the identified agent and the at least onecommunication device is preceded by the step of provisioning the atleast one communication device by the communications service providerbased on the user profile.
 9. The method as recited in claim 1, whereinthe step of establishing the connection between the identified agent andthe at least one communication device is preceded by the step ofprovisioning a plurality of network resources by the communicationsservice provider.
 10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein therule-set comprises a service flow for each communications serviceoffered by the service provider.
 11. The method as recited in claim 1,wherein the second set of predefined factors comprises at least one ofnetwork connectivity of the one or more agents, current location of theone or more agents, availability of the one or more agents, devicecapabilities of communication devices registered by the one or moreagents, type of the communications service requested, urgency of thecommunications service requested, and overall accessibility scores ofthe one or more agents.
 12. The method as recited in claim 1, whereinthe communication device is at least one of a mobile phone, a personaldigital assistant, a television, a desktop computer and a laptop. 13.The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the identified agent is aserver.
 14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the identifiedagent is a human agent.
 15. The method as recited in claim 14, whereinthe step of establishing the connection between the identified agent andthe at least one communication device comprises the step of establishinga connection between one or more communication devices registered by thehuman agent and the at least one communication device of the user. 16.The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising billing the atleast one user by the service provider based on usage of thecommunications service by the user.
 17. A system for providing acommunications service, the system comprising: one or more computerprocessors configured to: (i) partition a communications serviceprovider network into a plurality of non-overlapping virtual slices,each virtual slice comprising: communications infrastructure includingat least a defined communication bandwidth, and at least two predefinednetwork services that are distinct from the communicationsinfrastructure; (ii) configure a first platform to provide at least oneservice provider with the ability to: receive a request for acommunications service offered by the service provider, the requestreceived from the user through the at least one communication deviceover the communication channel; authenticate the user based on a set ofuser credentials provided by the user at the time of creating therequest; and form a list of one or more agents capable of providing thecommunications service to the user along with the request, the listformed based on a first set of predefined factors, wherein the first setof predefined factors comprises qualifications and experiences of theone or more agents; calculate accessibility scores of the one or moreagents based on network connectivity of the one or more agents, currentlocation of the one or more agents, and availability of the one or moreagents; transmit the list from the service provider to thecommunications service provider; and (iii) configure a second platformto provide a communications service provider with the ability to: accessthe list and analyze the request in accordance with a rule-set toidentify one of the one or more agents, the one of the one or moreagents being identified based on a second set of predefined factors,wherein the second set of predefined factors comprises accessibilityscores of the one or more agents; and establish a connection between theidentified agent and at least one communication device of the userthrough which the user accesses the communications service over thecommunication channel via the allocated one or more virtual slices. 18.The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the first set of predefinedfactors further comprises at least one of user profile, usersubscription details, and communications service requested.
 19. Thesystem as recited in claim 18, wherein the communications serviceprovider dynamically selects a set of communications services availableto the user based on the user subscription details.
 20. The system asrecited in claim 18, wherein the communications service providerdynamically selects content accessible to the user based on at least oneof the user profile and the user subscription details.
 21. The system asrecited in claim 17, wherein the communications service providerdynamically determines quality of service requirements for thecommunications service.
 22. The system as recited in claim 21, whereinthe communications service provider dynamically maps the communicationsservice with predefined quality of service requirements to determine thequality of service requirements for the communications service.
 23. Thesystem as recited in claim 17, wherein the communications serviceprovider provisions the at least one communication device based on theuser profile prior to establishing the connection between the identifiedagent and the at least one communication device.
 24. The system asrecited in claim 17, wherein the communications service providerprovisions a plurality of network resources prior to establishing theconnection between the identified agent and the at least onecommunication device.
 25. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein therule-set comprises a service flow for each communications serviceoffered by the service provider.
 26. The system as recited in claim 17,wherein the second set of predefined factors comprises at least one ofnetwork connectivity of the one or more agents, current location of theone or more agents, availability of the one or more agents, devicecapabilities of communication devices registered by the one or moreagents, type of requested communications service requested, urgency ofthe communications service requested, and overall accessibility scoresof the one or more agents.
 27. The system as recited in claim 17,wherein the communication device is at least one of a mobile phone, apersonal digital assistant, a television, a desktop computer and alaptop.
 28. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the identifiedagent is a server.
 29. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein theidentified agent is a human agent.
 30. The system as recited in claim29, wherein the communications service provider establishes a connectionbetween one or more communication devices registered by the human agentand the at least one communication device of the user.